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  • Throne Speech Pledges “Steps to Endorse” UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

    3442879047_4a06189e94Well, that was certainly unexpected..

    In her much anticipated Speech from the Throne, Canada’s Governor General Michaelle Jean stated the following:

    “We are a country with an Aboriginal heritage. A growing number of states have given qualified recognition to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Our Government will take steps to endorse this aspirational document in a manner fully consistent with Canada’s Constitution and laws.”

    There were also a few blurbs about Sisters in Spirit, which I can only assume means good news for the project’s creator, NWAC.  But I could be very wrong…

    Read on, the full speech is available here.

    UPDATE: The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) have both responded to the Federal Government’s pledge-to-take-steps-to-think-about-maybe-if-the-timing-is-right endorsement of the UN Declaration (ok, maybe it’s not THAT vague).

    Those releases here and here, respectively.

  • Here’s an idea!

    2648902362_9e8c313ae1At just about every place I’ve ever been fired from (long list, too much to explain in this limited space), I’ve advocated something that seems so simple, so straightforward, so obvious that when I bring it up the reaction is almost always the same. The listener’s hand sweeps up with a loud “smack” as the palm hits the forehead.
    What’s the cause of such a reaction? Read on…

    Yep, it’s a simple little thing called “buy Indian.” Or Aboriginal? Or whatever.

    But whenever I tried to convince the bean-counters at whatever company I happened to hang my shingle that we should put such a simple idea into action, I got nothing but excuses. Lame excuses. Here’s a very small sample of some of the comments I’ve come across:

    • Um… but (non-Indigenous company) is just down the block.
    • But we’ve got an account with (fill in the blank).
    • I have a working relationship with the salesman from (a melanin-challenged group) and he gives me a good deal.
    • It’s hard to find an Aboriginal company. I looked once and found they charged more than (yes, that same company).

    It’s not even competition. It’s bias – bias against supporting Aboriginal-owned and -operated businesses. It doesn’t matter whether it’s coffee, office supplies, courier services, janitorial or house cleaning. We do not like to put our money where our mouth is – so why should anyone else? Including government.

    Just asking those kinds of questions can get people to look at you like you’re losing it. Hmmm… Could that be why I keep getting shown the way out?

    [image via mwichary @ Flickr]

  • No, Canada.

    Ever have one of those nights where you can’t believe what you just saw and you’re steamed about it, but you know saying so won’t make a nickel’s worth of difference because apparently it IS true – ignorance IS bliss?

    I’m talking about the bizarre distortions of the real world that keep popping up.  Some of them amazing.  Some of them sickening.  Some of them just so offensive in so many ways you just want to start a bonfire with the notes taken at the meeting where the idea was discussed and agreed to.

    Stop or I'll puke!Somehow, somewhere, someone decided it was was ok  to make this public offering at the closing of the Olympic Games in Vancouver.   Yup.  Dancing constables in red serge.

    It’s one of those all-inclusive efforts where you get to insult the police, women, and the intelligence of both genders at the same time.

    Who let this fetishism for sexualizing a police uniform pass as something entertaining at a competitive sports meet for women and men?   Where was the shot of all those powerful  female speed skaters wincing at the demeaning portrayal of women who work in law enforcement?  Dancing girl mounties alongside giant blow up boy mounties and moose.

    Killed in the line of duty 2006, Saskatchewan
    Killed in the line of duty 2006, Saskatchewan

    Where would Constable Robin Cameron have fit into that picture?

    Oh Canada.  You make it hard to feel at home on so many levels.

  • USA Set to Drop Nuclear Obama on Indian Lands?

    When Obama made his run for the White House, he did it with the support of a number of Native Americans. And once in office, he promised that “You will not be forgotten as long as I’m in this White House.”

    But recent initiatives on the energy front in the US make me wonder if that promise is about to be seriously tested.

    In mid-February, Obama pledged US$8.3 billion in loan guarantees for “the first U.S. nuclear power plants in nearly three decades.” Justified as a way of reducing greenhouse gases, it raises the question of where the fuel for these plants will come from — and end up once it’s spent.

    Many indigenous territories are blessed/cursed with large deposits of uranium, including those located within the borders of the United States. And the fact is, uranium mining has not been kind to the peoples within those territories, sparking formal opposition to any new mines or dump sites among many (but not necessarily all) Aboriginal communities.

    This is definitely a controversy in the making, with implications for first peoples across North America and beyond.

  • And I thought it was real!

    At least most of it. I did spot a couple when I saw the original shows, like the one from Grey’s Anatomy. What am I talking about? Why not look for yourself.

    (thanks to Paul McGrath at his always entertaining Inside the CBC blog)